The Workbox System - Good for HODies?

[moedertje]

buzzybee4,

I like your idea very much since it takes up less space. Thanks for the pictures!

[learningathome]

busybee4,

I also REALLY liked your idea for the workbox system. I think I'm going to try it! Thanks for posting the great pics and instructions!

Heidi

[jessyb26]

We have been using a Workbox system the last couple of weeks and we are loving it. I don't have the book yet but plan to purchase it soon. I organized ours based on pics and blogs from others who use the system. My daughter loves helping me put the items in the boxes and helping to decide which order the activities should be completed. She also gets to pick her two bonus activities out of several choices I give her. I also made 2 cards that say 5 minute break on them because she was always asking if she could have a break and it was becoming frustrating telling her she needs to finish certain activities first. Now she places the 5 minute break cards where she wants them and she knows not to ask about a break anymore because visually she can see when she will have a break. It has helped me to stay focused and organized during her school time. I think our morning runs more smoothly because I am not looking for supplies or books in between completing the boxes in the book.

[Tree House Academy]

Hi,
I'm Geo. This is my first post here. I will be using Bigger next year with my youngest 2, 10yodd & 7yods. I have ordered the workbox book and hope to implement it as soon as possible. The real plus for me is that it was originally developed for her son who is on the autism spectrum. What is so obvious to you and your children is NOT obvious to such children. ADD/ADHD is another hinderance to processing and organizing. Both types would benefit enormously from such an approach. There is a tendency for these children to not be able to "see" the progress and become overwhelmed with the sense of endless tasks. Practical books for teaching AS and ADD/ADHD are filled tips and systems to help with this. These systems help children gain control and stability in what seems to them like chaos. As for the "normal" person who is very visual this would be a welcome tool as well. My children are a mix from each category. It (the system) goes a long way in promoting responsibility, autonomy and self-motivation, which are HUGE life changing accomplishments. The testimony of the positive responses of so many children are the proof in the pudding. Though I did read a story about a boy who "melted down" because he realized he wasn't able to avoid certain subjects anymore because his mom wasn't prepared! Oh well, you can't win them all.
Ok, gotta go. I will post later about my family and our upcoming HOD year.

For now,
Geo

Hi Geo! Welcome to the group.

My son was diagnosed with ADHD when he was 4. I definitely know what you are talking about.

Rebecca

[Tree House Academy]

I do agree about the expense for the "boxes". I.. being quite unorganized am looking for a kind of in between of your check mark paper plan, and a whole Box system. I really don't have the space for these giant systems in some of the links. But I love the idea in modification. Or maybe you can stop by and help me organize!! I am definitely not a born organized kind of gal and really admire those of you who are.. I am also a flylady dropout.. Maybe people can post links of modified "mini" box systems.

Did you have to take it somewhere to have it 3 whole punched and the binding taken off? Or can you do this yourself?

I did it myself. You just have to bend the binding back and pull gently (like tearing perforated paper from a notebook). Then I three hole punch them and do the tabs I know we will be using.

Pictures:

I picked a Binder with the clear front to match the book (LOL)





If I had more time, I would have rather typed these labels. Oh well.



I love how it lays flat.



All lined up with it's buddies on the shelf.

[Tree House Academy]

I went back and read through all the posts on this thread, because honestly, I just didn't GET it. I mean, it just seemed so simple and obvious. Now I have figured out why. LOL

I have a school room. In my school room, each of my kids have a desk. On each child's desk are crayons, pencils, a ruler, tape, a stapler, a hole punch (these are tables moreso than desks), scissors, etc. In one corner of the room, I have all of our craft supplies organized into a fishing tackle box with shelves of drawing paper and colored construction paper. I have a shelf with only manuals/teacher guides behind the kids' desks and there is a divider between the books with one side being for ds1 and the other side being for ds2. I have a 3 drawer cart in another corner - the top drawer is mine. It has any answer keys, etc I might need and the drawer is large enough for books to fit on each side...so one side is for materials for ds1, the other side for ds2. Then, each ds has a drawer to hold their books, notebooks, workbooks, etc.

What I do each week is print a grid sheet off in excel for the kids. They youngest works with me 100% and I check off each thing as he completes it. We start with a stack of books and as each is finished, I let him put it into a basket in the floor so we can have them all in one place and he can see the stack decrease. My older son does his own work. He KNOWS what he has to do with me and what he can do himself, so he moves the books he can do himself to his desk and starts work. Then, when he finishes (and I finish with little brother), he comes to me and we do the parts we need to do toghether.

When the kids finish school, they leave their books in the place they found them. For older, it is on another desk in the room. For younger, it is in the basket. I then look at the schedule and begin stacking the books accordingly for the next day. The kids come in the next morning, go straight to their stuff and get started.

So...after that lengthy explanation, I guess I just use my own "system" which is why the workbox thing seemed so "obvious" to me. I implement her ideas without using her methods, so to speak.

[MamaMary]

Rebecca, I love our pictures of how you organized your Beyond!

[kayben]

Thank you so much. This would be really nice to do. I always thought people took their TM's to Staples or something to have this done! I'm going to do it. I love how you color coordinated your binders! It looks so pretty!

Rebecca

I do agree about the expense for the "boxes". I.. being quite unorganized am looking for a kind of in between of your check mark paper plan, and a whole Box system. I really don't have the space for these giant systems in some of the links. But I love the idea in modification. Or maybe you can stop by and help me organize!! I am definitely not a born organized kind of gal and really admire those of you who are.. I am also a flylady dropout.. Maybe people can post links of modified "mini" box systems.

Did you have to take it somewhere to have it 3 whole punched and the binding taken off? Or can you do this yourself?

I did it myself. You just have to bend the binding back and pull gently (like tearing perforated paper from a notebook). Then I three hole punch them and do the tabs I know we will be using.

Pictures:

I picked a Binder with the clear front to match the book (LOL)





If I had more time, I would have rather typed these labels. Oh well.



I love how it lays flat.



All lined up with it's buddies on the shelf.

[Tree House Academy]

Thanks ladies! It takes a bit of work, and you have to be really careful when pulling out the pages, but it is sooo worth it, IMO. Now, DITHOR lays flat in its original book binding, so I didn't unbind it. Just Bigger and Beyond. You can totally do it!

Oh...and be sure you get the 2" or bigger binders. It doesn't fit nearly as well in the 1" ones. I found my pretty colored binders at Rite Aid of all places!

[crlacey]

Just for future reference, I believe all the books have a lay flat binding. Just give them a push, the binding won't break. My LHFHG and BLHFHG have always laid flat this way. Then I get the tabs from 3M and add then to the book (thanks Mary for that idea!).

[moedertje]

Interesting to know that the books lay flat! I ring bind them at the local copy store and that works great. I tried putting them in plastic sleeves in a 3 ring binder, but it was bulky and I had to use 2 3 ring binders and did not want to separate the book. So off I went and had Beyond ring bound as well.

[gracelikerain]

moedertje,
Did you ring bind them with the page protectors on? Was is costly to ring bind? Right now I have Bigger in a huge binder with page protectors.....ring binding sounds like a good option for me.

Thanks!

[funkmomma71]

I ran across this idea somewhere out in blogger space not long ago and fell in love with the organization of it all. We implimented this into our lives but on a much smaller scale because we have a small house and there are six of us. You can check out what we've made work at our home here http://www.rubyslippersschool.blogspot.com I hope that this helps someone else out as well!!

Thanks so much for sharing your "system" it looks so easy and cheap to implement. This year I have kept everything in a large basket, with a smaller basket nested on top for the smaller books and stuff we need ie pencils, notecards, bible verse box, and crayons etc. It works for now, but I have been brainstorming about next year's organization.

For the upcoming year I may do a student planner for my dd, since it is only her for school again and she seemed excited about the prospect of having some control over her day. I got the idea from currclick.com, but the one there has a year's worth of bible verses already printed on the pages, I will do my own instead and put Beyond weekly bible verses.

[Tree House Academy]

Just for future reference, I believe all the books have a lay flat binding. Just give them a push, the binding won't break. My LHFHG and BLHFHG have always laid flat this way. Then I get the tabs from 3M and add then to the book (thanks Mary for that idea!).

Mine would not lay flat the way I wanted. Dithor does, but the others didn't.

[Tree House Academy]

Interesting to know that the books lay flat! I ring bind them at the local copy store and that works great. I tried putting them in plastic sleeves in a 3 ring binder, but it was bulky and I had to use 2 3 ring binders and did not want to separate the book. So off I went and had Beyond ring bound as well.

I would have LOVED to ring bind it. I did use the 2" binder because I was NOT going to split them. It fits nicely in the 2". Ring binding would have been my choice if I had a place close that could do it and had wanted to spend money on it.